CUSTOMS TO REVIEW USE OF GREEN LANE

PUTRAJAYA: "Green lanes" at the country's entry points are up for review
after the Customs Department foiled yet another attempt to bring in drugs
through this facility at the KLIA -- the fourth in two weeks.

Among the changes to be considered under the review is the revoking of this
facility.

Deputy director-general (prevention) Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid said the
department caught a Taiwanese woman, 30, trying to smuggle in 9,980
Erimin-5 pills worth some RM150,000 through the green lane at KLIA on Friday.

The woman, he said, claimed to be a beautician who had been travelling in
and out of the country promoting beauty products but the Customs officers
became suspicious as she was carrying too little clothing.

"True enough, when we checked her baggage, we discovered the pills stashed
away in four shoe boxes," he said at the department's headquarters here
yesterday.

The woman, he said, was believed to be a member of a syndicate hoping to
market the pills in the Klang Valley and Johor Baru.

Last week, the department announced that it had foiled three attempts to
smuggle in a total of RM2.7mil worth of Ecstasy and Erimin-5 pills via the
green lane at KLIA. The four people involved -- three Malaysia men and a
Taiwanese woman -- were arrested.

On Sept 23, the department had also intercepted three packages found to
contain 19,400 Erimin-5 pills worth RM291,000, being delivered to a local
address via a courier service.

In addition, Abdul Rahman said, another Taiwanese woman had also been
caught earlier trying to smuggle the pills through KLIA.

"The large number of people caught misusing the green lane is worrying,
especially given the large drug hauls. We are concerned that this may be
the new trend for smuggling.

"Therefore, the department will be reviewing its status," he said.

Abdul Rahman noted that when green lanes were first introduced in the
1980s, they were meant to help promote the arrivals of tourists.

He said an alternative was to make tourists walk down a "longer" green
lane, where the heavier presence of officers could deter potential smugglers.

Other security measures taken to date, he added, included enrolling more
Customs officers in courses on "body language" to help them identify
potential smugglers and on how to read X-ray images correctly.

Malaysian Tourist Guides council president Jimmy Leong said that although
the green lane was set up for the convenience of travellers, it should not
be open to abuse.

"It is obvious that the green lane can speed up travelling, but if someone
has abused it, national interest should be given priority," he said in
reaction to the Customs' suggestion.